Empower’s group coaching circles offer library and information professionals a supportive, structured space to reflect, grow, and navigate work with confidence and kindness.
All coaching groups are exclusive to Empower members and run on a gentle six-week rotation (with breaks in UK school holidays), giving you regular access to expert-led coaching without overload.
Whether you’re leading others, managing burnout, navigating neurodivergence, or facing a moment that requires courage, there is a circle designed to support you.
Unlike one-off workshops or generic coaching programmes, Empower’s group coaching is:
Designed specifically for library and information professionals
Grounded in kindness, wellbeing, and evidence-based practice
Strengths-led and neuroinclusive
Practical, reflective, and human
Member-only, creating trust, safety, and continuity
You can attend one circle that meets your current needs, or join several over time as your work and life change.
A coaching space for people who lead — formally or informally — and want to do so with clarity, compassion, and courage.
Explore boundaries, brave conversations, psychological safety, accountability, and leading without burning out.
A supportive space focused on sustainable work, energy, and wellbeing.
Ideal if you’re feeling stretched, overwhelmed, or want to prevent burnout before it takes hold.
A dedicated coaching circle for members who identify as neurodivergent.
Strengths-led, affirming, and practical — supporting pacing, communication, executive function, unmasking safely, and thriving at work.
For moments when you know what matters — but taking the step feels hard.
This circle supports quiet bravery, self-trust, boundaried courage, and doing difficult things with kindness towards yourself.
A space to explore what’s next.
From career clarity and progression to transitions, confidence in your story, and recognising that library skills really are anywhere skills.
A peer coaching and action-learning space.
Bring real workplace challenges and explore them together using structured reflection, coaching questions, and collective wisdom.
Below are the confirmed upcoming coaching sessions running as part of the Empower six-week rotation.
You don’t need to attend everything — many members choose one or two circles that best support them at any given time.
All sessions are held on Zoom and times are shown in UK time.
Collaborative Practice Forum
Wed 14 January 2026 · 2:00–3:00 pm
Career Progression & Possibilities Circle
Tue 20 January 2026 · 4:00–5:00 pm
The Courage Circle
Thu 29 January 2026 · 2:00–3:00 pm
ND Strengths Collective
Thu 5 February 2026 · 4:00–5:00 pm
Kind Leadership Lab
Mon 9 February 2026 · 2:00–3:00 pm
Burnout Prevention Circle
Tue 10 February 2026 · 4:00–5:00 pm
All Empower group coaching circles are currently facilitated by Helen Rimmer, founder of Empower and The Kind Brave Leader.
Helen brings over 20 years’ experience in library and higher education leadership, alongside professional coaching, strengths-based practice, neuroinclusive leadership, and wellbeing at work.
As Empower grows, carefully selected associate facilitators may also lead some coaching circles. Any associate involved will be:
Deeply aligned with Empower’s values of kindness, inclusion, and care
Experienced in libraries, education, or people-centred work
Skilled facilitators who create safe, thoughtful group spaces
Briefed and supported to deliver coaching in line with Empower’s approach
This allows Empower to grow without losing its heart, ensuring quality, consistency, and sustainability while expanding access and capacity.
Each coaching circle runs once every six weeks (except UK school holidays), creating a steady, predictable rhythm:
No pressure to attend everything
No fear of “missing out”
Space for reflection between sessions
Sustainable for busy professionals
You’ll always know what’s coming next and can plan around your energy and workload.
All group coaching circles are exclusive to Empower members.
They are not sold separately and are not open to the public.
This keeps the space trusted, relational, and genuinely supportive, allowing deeper conversations and shared understanding.
When you join Empower, you gain access to:
All six rotating group coaching circles
Expert-led training and courses
A growing library of practical resources
A supportive professional community
Ongoing development without overwhelm
Empower is professional development designed to support real people doing real work — kindly, thoughtfully, and well.
We understand you may have further questions about the coaching
Group coaching for library professionals offers facilitated, reflective sessions where library and information staff explore leadership, wellbeing, career development, and workplace challenges together in a supportive environment.
Empower’s group coaching is designed for library assistants, officers, managers, leaders, and information professionals working across academic, public, NHS, school, and specialist libraries.
Yes. Empower’s coaching circles support early-career library staff, experienced professionals, and senior leaders by offering spaces focused on growth, reflection, and sustainable practice.
Unlike one-off training sessions, Empower provides ongoing, member-exclusive group coaching rooted in real library contexts, with a strong focus on kindness, inclusion, wellbeing, and practical leadership skills.
Yes. The Kind Leadership Lab offers leadership coaching for library professionals, focusing on boundaries, psychological safety, inclusive leadership, accountability, and leading without burnout. If you are interested in individual coaching contact Helen via www.thekindbraveleader.co.uk (currently we don't offer this through Empower)
Yes. The Burnout Prevention Circle focuses on wellbeing coaching for librarians, supporting sustainable workloads, energy management, stress reduction, and burnout prevention.
Yes. The ND Strengths Collective is a dedicated coaching circle for members who identify as neurodivergent, offering strengths-based, neuroinclusive coaching tailored to library work.
Absolutely. All Empower coaching is neuroinclusive by design, with a specific circle for neurodivergent library staff and practices that support different communication, energy, and processing needs.
Yes. The Career Progression & Possibilities Circle provides career coaching for librarians, supporting progression, transitions, confidence in transferable skills, and values-led career decisions.
The Collaborative Practice Forum is a peer coaching and reflective practice space where library professionals bring real workplace challenges and explore them together using structured coaching and action-learning approaches.
Yes. All group coaching circles are exclusive to Empower members and are not available as standalone sessions. This helps create trust, continuity, and psychologically safe spaces.
The coaching circles run on a six-week rotation. Each group meets once every six weeks, creating a steady rhythm without overwhelming busy library professionals.
All coaching circles are currently facilitated by Helen Rimmer, an experienced leadership coach and former senior library leader. As Empower grows, carefully selected associate facilitators may also be involved.
Yes. Empower’s group coaching supports organisational CPD needs by offering accessible, inclusive, and sustainable professional development for library teams of all sizes.
If you’re looking for bespoke coaching for your team or organisation, this can be arranged separately through The Kind Brave Leader.
Empower members and organisational members receive preferential rates on team coaching, facilitation, and leadership development.
To explore this, contact Helen Rimmer via The Kind Brave Leader website.
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